


Hospital Privileges

by rowofstars



Series: 31 Days of Ficmas 2017 [21]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medical, Doctor Belle, F/M, Fluff, Hospitals, Kid Baelfire | Neal Cassidy, Minor Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 07:08:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13184925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rowofstars/pseuds/rowofstars
Summary: Bae has an accident while sledding and Gold has to take him to urgent care. For the 31 Days of Ficmas prompt #28 - "sledding."





	Hospital Privileges

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick bit of fluff. I hope it's not too awful?

Belle glanced at the chart in her hands before she moved around the curtain and plopped down on the little stool next to the bed.

_Baeden Gold, age eight, significant inflammation of the left wrist, and possible metacarpal fracture._

“Hello,” she said, smiling brightly and looking from the young boy in the bed to his father and back again. “Remember me? I’m Dr. French.”

Bae eyed her nervously, cradling his wrist against his body. “Hi.”

She gave him a sympathetic look and set the chart folder on her lap. “Can you tell me what happened?”

Mr. Gold huffed. “He was careless and irresponsible is what happened.”

He looked up at his father and then back at Belle, sighing. “I was sledding down the big hill by the school, and, uh, I got too close to one of the trees and, um, kinda wiped out.”

“And you’re lucky it wasn’t worse,” Gold muttered.

“I see,” Belle said, glanced up at Gold and giving him a stern look. Then she stood briefly and shifted to sit on the edge of the bed, turning to face Baeden. “Do you mind if I look at your wrist?”

The boy shook his head and extended his arm carefully, wincing as it stretched.

She probed the tissues with her fingertips, being as gentle as possible, stopping after Bae hissed in pain. “Okay, okay,” she said soothingly. “Can you move it this way?”

She demonstrated the motion she wanted him to make and he repeated it as best he could, pulling a face when it hurt too much. 

“I don’t think it’s broken,” she said, picking up the chart and pulling her pen from the pocket of her lab coat. “But I’m going to order an x-ray to be sure. There’s two patients ahead of you right now, so it might be a little bit before they come get you. Do you need anything before I go?”

Bae shook his head and went back to holding his arm gingerly. 

“Something to read?” she offered as she stood. “I think Dr. Whale left a couple of his Spiderman comics in the breakroom. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

Bae lit at that and nodded. “Yeah, cool.”

Her eyes went to Mr. Gold again, who was staring rather pensively at the floor and twisting his cane back and forth. She knew the Golds a little bit, enough to say hello at Granny’s and make small talk, and she’d heard of Mr. Gold plenty since moving to town a few months ago. Of course her house was rented from Gold, but neither had been a patient of hers until now.

“How about you?” she asked, looking at Gold. “A cup of coffee, the newspaper, or a book while you wait?”

“Is this a hospital or a library?” he snapped, his lip pulling back until she could see the shine of his gold tooth. “Just order the _damn_ test.” 

She frowned and squared her shoulders. “Well, too bad there’s no treatment for rudeness.”

His mouth open again to say something else, but he thought better of it and settled for clenching his jaw.

With a smile for Bae and a glare for his father, Belle left. She entered the x-ray order, and asked one of the nurses to fetch the comic books from the break room. When she was done adding her notes to Bae’s chart, she leaned on the counter at the nurses station and rubbed her eyes. She was nine hours into her twelve hour urgent care shift and greatly looking forward to a long soak in her bathtub. After the previous day of screaming children and parents insisting they needed antibiotics for the common cold, she’d decided this was the last time she was covering for Whale.

A moment later, she heard the metallic scrape of the curtain being pushed aside and looked up to see Mr. Gold coming towards her.

“Need something Mr. Gold?” she asked, crossing her arms and giving him a blank, nonplussed stare.

His lips twisted and then he sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said. “About - about back there. It’s just that - he’s my son, and -” He stopped and exhaled, giving her a plaintive look. “It's the first time he's been seriously injured.”

Belle saw his eyes brighten, and then he blinked and looked away. “It’s alright, Mr. Gold. Parents are always a bit stressed when their child is hurting or sick.”

“I know, but that is no reason to take it out on you, or anyone else.” His face softened and he gave her a small smile. “You were right to call me on it, I was being rude.”

She smiled. “It’s okay, I’ve had worse.” 

He chuckled at that. “And I imagine you were just as brave in front of them.”

Her face flushed she looked away for a moment, flipping the chart closed. “Oh, I hardly think telling off a snippy parent is being all that brave.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ve heard plenty about me to know I can be more than _snippy._ ”

Belle looked at him and shook her head. She had to admit that she’d been strangely intrigued by the stories some people told about him. He was either a wealthy eccentric or a lying bastard depending on who you asked, but his interactions with his son always seemed very sweet and loving. Even though he was a bit grumpy and snappish, she could tell it was only out of stress and concern for his son. He even looked rather handsome just now, with the small half smile on his face and his silver streaked hair falling in his eyes. It was quite a sudden and surprising thought.

The town seemed to have decided for themselves what kind of person he was based solely on the fact that he owned the places they lived and they didn’t like it, or that he dealt with them according to the details of contracts they agreed to and then didn’t want to follow. She supposed he could probably be all the things they said and more, but people like that didn’t usually apologize for their behavior, or think she was brave for standing up to them.

“I think,” she said, giving him a coy smile, “that’s something you might want to get a second opinion on.”

Gold’s eyebrows lifted. “I’ll, uh, consider that, Dr. French,” he said, and then he gave her a small nod and went back to his son’s bedside.

Three hours, and several promises that it would be just a little bit longer, later, Belle was handing Mr. Gold his son’s discharge papers and care instructions for a very sprained wrist.

“Ice it for thirty minutes every three to four hours, ibuprofen and rest it for at least the next two days,” she said, double checking the wrap on the young boy’s wrist. It was a bold blue color which had at least made him smile through the process. “I don’t want to see you without this wrap for the next week, okay?”

Baeden nodded solemnly.

“I’m giving you a sling as well,” she added. “And a note for school in case you need it.”

Mr. Gold smiled and took the school form from her and folded it before putting it in his jacket pocket. “Believe it or not, he’ll actually be sad to sit out gym class.”

Bae looked at them both and sighed. “We’re supposed to play dodgeball in the gym next week too.”

“I’m sure there will be other games,” Belle said, giving his shoulder a little squeeze. Then she looked at Gold. “I’d like to see him in ten days, so I can track how he’s healing, and see if we still need the wrap.”

Gold nodded. “Thank you. I’ll call the office and make an appointment.”

She walked them to the waiting room, and said goodbye, feeling a little disappointed that they were leaving. Oddly, Gold and his son had been the bright spot in her day, and she looked forward to seeing them for Bae’s follow up appointment. She might even keep Whale’s comics and let the boy have them. Victor could easily buy more, and besides, he’d left them sitting in the break room unattended while he went skiiing.

“Dr. French,” Gold called out.

She turned around and saw Bae standing by the row of chairs in the waiting room, grinning, and then looked at Gold. “Yes, Mr. Gold?”

“I, um, I was thinking that I might take you up on that cup of coffee after all.”

Belle frowned. “Oh, um, okay, I’ll be a minute -”

“No, no,” he said, covering the space between them in three long strides. 

She thought he was strangely graceful and elegant with his cane. 

“I mean, uh, maybe we could - could have coffee sometime?”

His face was open and hopeful, and she bit her lip. Mr. Gold was - _oh._

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly, shaking his head. “That was -”

“No!” She reached out and touched his arm to stop him. “No, that’s - I’d like that.”

Gold swallowed. “Granny’s?” She nodded. “Tomorrow?”

Belle nodded again. “My shift starts here at three, so, before that. Two o’clock?”

His lips parted and his tongue touched his bottom lip briefly as he twisted his cane against the floor. “It’s, uh, it’s a date then.”

“A date,” she said softly, and Gold smiled.

She watched him walk back to Bae’s side, where the boy leaned in and asked him something. He looked back at her briefly, still grinning, and then nodded to his son.

The rest of her shift she couldn’t stop smiling, even when Leroy stumbled in with Mr. Clark, drunk off cheap shots at the Rabbit Hole, and threw up on her shoes.


End file.
